Monday, July 31, 2017

There were various reports out of Mosul. First, an IED
in the northwest left three dead and four wounded. There are thousands of unexploded
bombs left in the city, which pose a serious threat to people returning right
now to the western section. Second, three Islamic State elements were killed
trying to cross the Tigris River from west to east Mosul. There are still
insurgents said to be hiding in the Old City in the west. They are still being
flushed out or attempting to escape. Third, 16 municipal workers were arrested in
Mosul for cooperating with IS. The security forces and National Intelligence
Agency are hunting down insurgents in the city, and apparently are now focusing
upon collaborators as well. Last, 23 people were pulled out of the rubble of the
Old City. Finding survivors three weeks after the city was liberated was pretty
amazing.

With the Mosul battle over the Iraqi forces (ISF) are
preparing to attack Tal Afar in western Ninewa. Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi
has talked about the upcoming operation almost every day now. The army, police,
Hashd and tribal Hashd will all be involved.
The ISF are staging in Badush. The Islamic State launched
two suicide bombers at that town, which were killed. That might have been a
pre-emptive assault by the insurgents. Tal Afar is likely to follow the same
plan as Mosul, meaning that the Hashd will have perimeter duties, while the
army and police will enter the town. There has been some talk of having the Al
Abbas Division being allowed to go into the village as well. It is loyal to
Najaf and Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and has worked closely with the army and
police before.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Reports of the Islamic State carrying out attacks in Mosul
are getting rarer. On July
28, an insurgent was killed attempting to throw a grenade at a patrol by
the Iraqi forces. There might be more security incidents occurring, but there
is still a media blackout in much of west Mosul, which is stopping them from
being reported.

Friday, July 28, 2017

There are still Islamic State elements in west Mosul, while securing
the city remains a problem. Al
Mada talked with tribal Hashd units that said militants were hiding in
tunnels underneath west Mosul, and attempting to cross the Tigris River to get
from the west to the eastern side of the city. Sections of west Mosul were
still considered too dangerous to do any repair work or allow any families to
return. West Mosul also leads to rural areas of Ninewa where there is the
threat of infiltration by IS. Protecting the city against attacks are over a
dozen tribal Hashd units, police, army, and the National Intelligence Agency.
Some of the Hashd have been pulled out and sent to other parts of the city
without warning. The different security forces also do not cooperate with each
other, and there are too many of them. A Hashd commander complained to Al Mada
that the security situation in the city was chaotic. A Ninewa councilman blamed
the governor for the lack of coordination. Ninewa politicians would like to
solve this problem by having dismissed police returned to duty, but Baghdad has
done nothing on this issue forcing the city and province to rely on a
hodgepodge of security forces instead.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

UN installing power transformer in east Mosul to deliver
electricity to neighborhoods (UNDP)

Iraqi army clearing rubble from a road in east Mosul
(Baghdad Post)

Corpses washed up along the bank of the Tigris in west Mosul
(Middle East Eye)

Several dead bodies showed up in West Mosul, but they were
all Islamic State members. Three corpses were discovered shot
in the head and handcuffed under one of the destroyed bridges across the Tigris
River. There have been reports
of other corpses turning up, blindfolded, showing signs of torture, and
execution. An army major told Middle
East Eye that an order had gone out to kill any IS elements they found in
the city. Stories of these extra judicial killings have been going on for
several days now. There are still arrests going on however, so the major’s
story has to be taken with a grain of salt.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

East Mosul’s street lights have been restored six months
after section was liberated (Baghdad Post)

The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) were sweeping west Mosul,
while the Islamic State carried out two attacks. First, four policemen were killed
in a shooting by insurgents in a market in the west side of the city. Another
police officer and an intelligence agents lost their lives to the militants in
the east. Six IS members were arrested
near the Mosul airport in the southwest carrying weapons and suicide belts. Azzaman reported that IS elements
were still in Shahawan and Qalahat in the Old City, and gunfire could be heard
in sections of the city, especially at night. A spokesman for the Ninewa
Council told
the press that IS elements were still in tunnels in the in west, but that they
would be cleared out in a few days. The Federal Police claimed they had gone through 80%
of West Mosul. The Golden Division is also doing sweeps so it is unclear
whether the 80% figure was just for the police or all the ISF. There have not
been any stories of combat in the city for several days now. There are
occasional terrorist attacks and shootings however, and always stories of
arrests. Those show that IS has cells operating throughout the city. Luckily,
their operations are sporadic. Whether they increase, decrease, or stay at the
same rate in the coming weeks and months will be a good sign of the strength of
IS within Mosul.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

No fighting has been reported in Mosul for the last few days
but the Islamic State’s cells are still active. A car
bomb went off in the western neighborhood of Bab al-Sinjar that left four
dead and three wounded. These types of terrorist attacks will be the security
challenge in the city for the coming weeks and months as IS attempts to scare
the public and show that it is still active.

The Iraqi forces (ISF) continued clearing operations in west
Mosul. First, several IS members were arrested
in Tanak, Tamuz 17, and Islah Zirahi. The ISF have put up posters and started a
public campaign to get
people to report any IS suspects they see inside the city. Second, the army’s
16th Division, which is in control of sections of east Mosul is supposed
to be take charge of the east in 72 hours. Third, the Iraqi authorities claimed
in two weeks they will have explosives removed and started work on
infrastructure and services so that large numbers of people can start returning
to the west. They must mean just from main thoroughfares, because other reports
have said it would take months if not years
to clean up all the unexploded ordinance. Finally, a soldier was wounded
by an IS sniper. Fighting may finally be over inside the city. There are only
scattered reports of gunfire, and an occasional suicide bomber. Then again,
there is still a ban on reporting in the western half unless on a presser with
the ISF, so it’s impossible to be sure. If so, that leaves the Iraqi forces to
the long and arduous tasks of hunting down IS members, and getting rid of
leftover bombs.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Civil Defense teams are still recovering bodies from the
rubble in west Mosul. A family of eight was discovered in a basement after
their house collapsed on top of them two weeks before. A girl was found after
she got trapped looking for her family. Two other families were uncovered in
their destroyed homes. The Mosul Morgue is still receiving
30-40 corpses a day. This will be a long and arduous operation as so much of
west Mosul was damaged in the fighting. An unknown amount of people died in the
process, and they have yet to be dug out.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

News out of Mosul was limited again because of the media
blackout enforced by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). Yesterday, General Haidar
Ali al-Shemari from the Golden Division told
the press that around 250 families were still trapped in the Old City, afraid
to flee because of Islamic State gunfire. Soon after that story was published
the Joint Operations Command (JOC) denied
it. The JOC was supposed to be in control of all press statements, but has
never been able to enforce that rule. The general’s statement contradicted the
government’s narrative that Mosul is freed, and only mopping up operations are
going on, which as the reason why the JOC claimed it was fake news.

Friday, July 21, 2017

July 20, the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) admitted that
fighting continued in the Old City of West Mosul. First, U.S. led Coalition
spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon told Rudaw that
there were no reported clashes going on inside Mosul anymore. However,
according General Haidar Ali al-Shemari of the Golden Division there were
occasional gunfights occurring in the Old City. Those were happening
in Qalahat and Shahwan along the Tigris River. Yesterday, a suicide bomber hit a
police unit in the former killing three and wounding two. Two more bombers were
killed in Yarmouk, which is in the western side of west Mosul showing that
there are cells or infiltration going on across the city. Reportedly roughly
1,000 people are still trapped in the district, and can’t escape due to
insurgent gunfire. The ISF has banned media from west Mosul so coverage of the
on-going combat is getting more and more sporadic. General Shemari’s comments
contradict the regular line heard by the government that only mopping up
operations are taking place in the city.

Thursday, July 20, 2017

The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have banned almost all
reporters from west Mosul, so there was only one story from the city. A crew
from France
24 travelled with a Golden Division unit to the Tanak neighborhood on the
western edge of Mosul to look for Islamic State elements. An officer went house
to house interviewing families for tips on insurgents. Two young boys were
taken in as a result. In most of the city these are the type of clearing
operations that the ISF is doing. That’s also the reason why the Golden
Division allowed this story, because it goes along with the narrative that
Mosul is now safe and secure. It’s unknown whether there is still fighting
going on in the Old City district because of the media blackout.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

No fighting was reported in the Old City district of West
Mosul, just mopping up operations. A Golden Division unit chased
down some Islamic State fighters along the Tigris River killing ten of them,
and arresting five others. A member of the Mosul district council estimated
that there were 100-200 IS elements left in the city concentrated in the
Shahwan, Qalahat, Maidan and Khazraj neighborhoods of the Old City. There are
continued fears of insurgents that escaped the city with the displaced. The
Iraqi press has been almost completely silent on the on going combat in the Old
City. It only covers the government releases, which just focus upon clearing
operations. Admitting that there were still serious clashes going on would
undermine the government’s victory narrative, and the declaration that the city
was liberated eight days ago.

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

The Iraqi forces (ISF) in part are still trying to deny that
serious fighting is going on in the Old City in West Mosul. The chief of the
Rapid Reaction Division for example, General Thamir al-Husseini told the
press that his units were just clearing the district, and there was no fighting
going on. Ninewa Operations Command head General Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah on
the other hand, let it be known that the Islamic State carried out surprise attacks in
Shahwan and Qalahat. The fighters came out of basements and tunnels they were
hiding in. Those are two neighborhoods along the Tigris River where combat
continues. In the rest of Mosul, the ISF are just mopping up, arresting IS
elements, and occasionally killing some attempting to escape. In Shahwan and
Qahalat however serious combat is still going on.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Heavy clashes continued in the Old City of west Mosul, but
with little to no coverage within Iraq. The Golden Division’s General Abdul
Wahab al-Saadi repeated
the government’s story that the Iraqi forces (ISF) were simply hunting down
sleeper cells in the district. The Iraq News
Center however reported heavy fighting was going on in Qalahat and Shahwan,
which are two neighborhoods along the Tigris River. The Islamic State fighters
are hiding in basements and tunnels in the Old City. In one of those twenty IS
women were captured
with different nationalities. Five of them were suicide bombers. The continued
combat in the city is barely being mentioned in the Iraqi media. Instead most
of Iraq is just hearing of arrests and occasional shootings of insurgents
trying to escape. That’s due to two issues. First, the ISF has barred reporters
from west Mosul. Second, almost all Iraqi media outlets just repeat government
statements and do not do original reporting.

Video of continued fighting in Old City. Gunshots, tank
fire, helicopters overhead shooting at Old City district West Mosul from across
Tigris River. (Nabih Bulos)

Heavy fighting continued in the Old City district of west
Mosul five days after the city was declared liberated. The Iraqi forces (ISF)
have banned reporters in the area, and not released much about what is going on
so the Iraqi press has been largely silent on the continuation of combat. Reinforcements
were sent in with three units from the Rapid Reaction forces joining the Golden
Division to clear out the last Islamic State elements who were said to be
hiding in tunnels in the district. Nabih Bulos from the Los Angeles Times went
to the eastern side of the Tigris River across from the Old City and filmed an
Abrams tank and helicopters firing into the district. Constant gunfire could be
heard as well. The ISF claims they are just mopping up the last remnants of the
insurgents, but the amount of firepower deployed would point to things being
more serious. Five
times the ISF told Prime Minister Haidar Abadi that the city was freed when
it wasn’t. Abadi showed up in the city to give his victory speech when he was
informed that the city was not cleared yet. He waited a day, and then gave his
address, but things were not settled yet. Fighting will likely continue for
several more days with most of the country none to the wise.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Heavy fighting returned to the Old City district of west
Mosul. A source
from the Iraqi forces (ISF) told the media that there were intense clashes
going on with pockets of Islamic State in the district. Iraqi helicopters
were again seen flying overhead and explosions were heard. IS also fired
mortars into an eastern neighborhood. July 13 things appeared to have calmed
down and the security forces were finally just mopping up. It seems that these
confrontations will flare up off and on for the next few days in the Old City
as the ISF hunt down the last IS elements.

Friday, July 14, 2017

The third day after Mosul was declared liberated major fighting
was finally coming to an end. There were some scattered clashes
going on in the Old City, which wounded 2 soldiers, but didn’t seem as serious
as previous days. Otherwise, the Iraqi forces (ISF) freed a Yazidi family that
had been held hostage by the Islamic State in the Old City’s Maidan
neighborhood. Four IS members were killed
trying to escape across the Tigris River. On the other hand, IS cells were
still operating in other parts of the city. A suicide
bomber was shot in a market in the west. Five suicide
bombers infiltrated into Tanak in the western edge of west Mosul when they
got caught by security. They hold up in a house where one set off his device,
while the others died. Four ISF lost their lives during the confrontation. Finally,
mortars were fired at a power station in the east killing three and injuring
two. In the previous two days there were air and helicopter strikes, mortar
fire, etc. By July 13 things finally seemed to turn towards mopping up
operations. Cleaning up the sleeper cells however will likely take quite some
time as they are still operating in the east, which was freed six months ago.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

The second day after Mosul was declared liberated there was
still fighting
going on inside the city. Gunfire could be heard, helicopters were attacking
positions, and smoke was rising over the Old City district. The day before the
U.S. led Coalition carried out three air strikes. The Iraqi forces (ISF) again
claimed they were just mopping up IS elements, but it appeared to be a bit more
than that. As the Islamic State has done since the start of the battle, they
were firing and maneuvering. U.S. General Stephen Townsend admitted that there
were pockets of IS men left in the city.

The day after Prime Minister Haidar Abadi declared victory
in Mosul there was still fighting going on in the city. The Golden Division’s
General Sami al-Aradi said
that the Iraqi forces (ISF) were clearing out the Old City looking for Islamic
State members. From reports however it appeared to be more serious than that. Air
strikes and helicopters were hitting the Qalahat neighborhood, and IS was
firing mortars
at the ISF. Gunfire and smoke could be seen coming from the district. The
premier was told that the city was liberated on July 9 only to find out that IS
still held parts of the city. He was likely informed that things were finished
leading to his address on July 10. It appears the ISF were not correct that
time as well. The different Iraqi units involved in the battle were all competing
with each other to claim they were responsible for taking the city. That led
them to claim five times that Mosul had been freed when it wasn’t. Still,
combat will not last long, probably a few more days, but it is another example
that the ISF are so prone to exaggerating their successes. The Iraqi media has
not reported the situation so the public doesn’t know what’s happening.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Moqtada al-Sadr visiting the tomb of his father Ayatollah
Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr (The Private Office of His Eminence Sayyid Muqtada
Al-Sadr)

Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr is a revered figure in Iraq
today in part because of his assassination in 1999, which was blamed on
Saddam’s government. When he was alive it was a different story. He was a
polarizing figure because of his relationship with the government and the other
ayatollahs in Najaf and Qom, Iran. To help explain Sadr’s ideas and legacy is
University of Haifa’s Professor Amatzia Baram.

The last areas held by the Islamic State in west Mosul were
finally cleared, allowing Iraq’s Prime Minister Haidar Abadi to declare victory
in the nine-month long campaign. At the start of the day, there were still a few
IS elements in the Shahwan
and Qalahat neighborhoods along the Tigris River. Three soldiers from the
Golden Division were killed in the fighting. That initially held
up the premier’s speech, but by the middle of the day Abadi appeared and
gave his address. He said
Mosul was a triumph against terrorism, darkness, and brutality, and marked the
collapse of IS’s state. The next challenge was stabilization and rebuilding. Before
that can happen the Iraqi forces (ISF) still need to mop up the Old City to
make sure no insurgents are hiding out in buildings, tunnels or amongst the
displaced. The U.S. led Coalition called this the heaviest urban combat since
the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. Even though the war is not over
the Iraqis have much to be proud of, and they have been partying in the streets
for the last two days.

Monday, July 10, 2017

Federal Police moving through west Mosul’s Old City
(AFP/Getty Images)

The battle of Mosul has reached its ninth month, but it is
finally coming to an end. It has been one of the toughest urban battles since
probably the fighting for cities in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. With
the conflict winding down there is time to reflect and analyze how the campaign
went down. To help do that is David M. Witty. He is a retired U.S. Special
Forces Colonel. He served in the first Gulf War as an adviser to the Kuwaiti
forces. He then took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom being an adviser to the
Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), today known by the popular name the
Golden Division, from 2007-2008 and 2013-2014. He can be followed on Twitter @DavidMWitty1.

The much expected victory announcement in Mosul was delayed
for another day. That wasn’t apparent at first. State TV claimed
that the city was liberated. The prime minister’s office than released a statement that he
was in the city to declare it freed. The premier arrived
in Mosul and did a tour to visit with units from the Iraqi forces (ISF) to
congratulate them, and said he was in the “liberated city.” He then returned
to the Ninewa Operations command without making the actual victory speech. A
spokesman for the cabinet told
the press that the PM would not give his address until all areas of Mosul were
cleared. That’s expected to occur at the Nouri Mosque, where Islamic State
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the caliphate. The Iraqi forces and
government have been anticipating the end of the battle for days now. Many
Iraqis are not waiting and there were celebrations throughout the country.

The news of the day was whether Mosul was finally liberated
or not. The Joint Operations Command got things underway by saying that the city was free,
but then added that there were small pockets of resistance. That last caveat
was missed by most leading the command to issue a clarification that there were
still a few meters of the city under Islamic State control. It then added that a
victory announcement was imminent and that fighting would be over in a few
hours. Units of the Iraqi forces (ISF) were seen celebrating in
the streets. In fact, at the start of the day there were still three contested neighborhoods, Maidan,
Qalahat and Shahwan that were under attack by the Golden Division and the
army’s 9th Division. By nighttime
the Islamic State was reduced to small pockets, but were holding a number of
civilian captives. It was predicted that by July 9 those would be wrapped up.
Prime Minister Haidar Abadi already flew
into the Qayara base northeast of Mosul, and was expected to give a victory
speech. The campaign took nine long months. It witnessed some of the toughest
urban fighting seen in years. While the war against the Islamic State is far
from over, this will be a huge symbolic and political victory for the Iraqi
government. Three years ago, IS declared its caliphate in Mosul, and now the
Iraqi forces are standing over the rubble of its state.

Saturday, July 8, 2017

There were 3,320 reported deaths and 1,135 wounded in Iraq
in June 2017. Almost all of those casualties occurred in Ninewa because of the
Mosul battle. Violence in the rest of the country remains at an all-time low.

The Islamic State is now down to three neighborhoods in the
Old City of West Mosul. July
6, they held Bab al-Tob in the south, Qurnish, Shahwan, Maidan, and Najafi
Street along the Tigris River. The Iraqi forces (IFS) announced Maidan and
Najafi Street
were seized. The insurgents were still desperately fighting, and launched
a counter attack with 50-100 fighters into Bab
al-Lakash, which was recently freed, Bab al-Tob, and Maidan, throwing the
ISF back on their heels in some of those areas. Still the end is in sight, and
Iraqi commanders continue to try to claim they are nearly done. Federal Police
commander General Raed Shakir Jawadat said
his forces were 99% finished with their combat missions, which contradicted his
own statement on July
3 that they had completed their tasks already. The Golden Division was more
circumspect simply stating
that things were winding down. Yesterday there were a few reports that Mosul
had been completely freed, and Prime Minister Haidar Abadi already
congratulated the ISF on their victory in the city. This is the norm for Iraqi
propaganda that is obsessed with claiming real and imagined advances.

Friday, July 7, 2017

The fighting in west Mosul was down to the last five
neighborhoods and areas. Bab
al-Tob, which was declared freed
yesterday, was now cut off and surrounded. It is one of the southern entrances
to the Old City district. The other areas still under Islamic State control
were all along the Tigris River. That included Qurnish, Shahwan, Najafi
Street, and Maidan.
There were a few reports
that claimed the entire city was freed, but that seemed to be propaganda.
Various military and political leaders said that July
6 was the day victory was to be declared in the campaign, but that appeared
to be a date set by politics not the situation on the ground.

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Iraqi forces helping a family escape the Islamic State
through a hole in a wall in Old City district of West Mosul (Al Jazeera)

The Iraqi forces (ISF) were cleaning up the south in the Old
City as well as pushing to the Tigris River in west Mosul. Bab al-Tob,
one of the southern entrances to the area was declared freed for the second
time. The Federal police took
Sargkhana Street, Tawalib,
Bab al-Saray again,
and Katunya for the third time. Maidan,
one neighborhood away from the Tigris, Nujafi, and Shahwan,
which is on the Tigris were under siege as well. Federal Police chief General
Raed Shakir Jawadat claimed only
four neighborhoods were left under Islamic State control, Nujafi, Bab al-Saray,
Bab al-Lakash, and Bab al-Jadid. Interestingly, all of those except Nujafi have
been cleared before, and he did not include other areas which were still
contested.

IRAQ HISTORY TIMELINE

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com